Jeffries defends Democratic outbursts at State of the Union
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in the House chamber ahead of the State of the Union on Feb. 24. Photo: Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday went to bat for his members who protested and heckled President Trump from inside the House chamber during the State of the Union.
Why it matters: It's a marked departure from last year, when Jeffries privately chewed out the House Democrats who disrupted Trump's speech to Congress, held up signs and walked out in protest.
- One big difference is that, this time, there has been minimal internal fallout among House Democrats towards the disruptions, multiple lawmakers told Axios.
- The heckling was "not what people wanted, but nobody is pissed or even surprised," one House Democrat told Axios.
What they're saying: "I thought the Democratic response was appropriately restrained and forceful at the same period of time," Jeffries said during a press conference at the House Democratic retreat on Wednesday.
- "That was obvious to anybody who was watching," the Democratic leader insisted.
- Jeffries had repeatedly urged members in the run-up to the speech to either skip it or attend in "defiant silence," instructing them not to hold up signs or make any other "unforced errors."
What happened: While the disruptions Tuesday night were nowhere near the scale of last year's widespread heckling, there were still several notable moments in which Democrats broke traditional decorum.
- Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) was escorted out of the speech early after holding up a sign reading "BLACK PEOPLE AREN'T APES" — a reference to a racist video posted by Trump's Truth Social account earlier this month.
- Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) loudly and relentlessly heckled Trump during portions of the speech.
- Several other Democrats, including Reps. Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.) and Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.), also shouted heckling comments at the president.
What they're saying: "With respect to Rep. Green's response, it was both appropriate and restrained," Jeffries said, adding that the Texas Democrat's message was "on point."
- "It was far less profane than my reaction to the very same racist video that Donald Trump felt compelled to produce," the Democratic leader said, referring to a video he posted in which he said "f*** Donald Trump."
- Jeffries also blasted Trump for calling Omar and Tlaib "LUNATICS" who should be "institutionalized" in a social media post on Wednesday, calling the comments "disgraceful, unpresidential, unpatriotic and un-American."
The bottom line: "As we had asked everyone to do, if you're going to go, we will express ourselves in a manner consistent with being in the House chamber," Jeffries said, "and that was done."
- "I know people are struggling to find a reason to pierce the fact that the American people have clearly decided it's time to throw the MAGA extremists overboard ... but we're going to be disciplined and focused, as we were yesterday."
